The crimes done in the name of God

The SC postponed the Ayodhya verdict – again. I know perhaps a lot of people are relieved with the decision. I do not know any of them personally, so they cannot tell me why this is a good thing?

The weekend is salvaged? Perhaps. I give you one. But what else?

The verdict is a sword hanging over our heads… like the exams that you would rather get done and over with. If you were the sorts who liked it when exams were postponed, do not continue reading.

Every single person I know could say this little fact – “Friday there’ll be trouble.” For the people who are not aware of the situation… some million years ago, Hindus had a holy ground. It was believed that was where Lord Ram was born, hence very auspicious. And then the Mughals invaded the country and they went ahead and built a Mosque on that place. Did people really care about that? I don’t know. I haven’t read enough history to know if there was trouble at this point. What I do know is that the Mosque acknowledged the place as the birth place of Ram till some point. And then really recently, as recently as the 1990s, when God was only a name and religion a tool for the politicians, morons broke down the mosque.

Naturally, hell broke out in India.

I literally mean hell. I remember being about 8 years old around then… My mother, my bro and me had to take an auto home because our vehicle broke down. It was pouring… and the auto we did get was driven by a Muslim. A devout guy by all appearances… he had the cap, the white Kurta and the long beard. My mother told me years later that she was apprehensive. There were reports pouring in from all over the country – on the few news channels we had, which didn’t sensationalize things (not that this needed masala) – about riots, people being killed and worse. But we didn’t have a choice.

The man drove us home safe, taking routes that would be free of rioting. He even helped my mother carry in her bags and did not charge her extra, she said. I was too young to really remember or even notice the implications of most of the things happening around me. But the thought my mother voiced struck with me throughout the years. My mother offered him a glass of tea because we were all soaked in the rain… that was all he did accept.

And that reminds us often that it isn’t what people wear or worship which matters. He was a true Muslim… he believed in helping a woman who was in need. His words, apparently.

Which brings me back to the current problem – the people who are fighting out there don’t give a shit about religion. It is a political game. Which is why every single person I know can say that “there is gonna be craziness happening after the verdict”

No matter which side the verdict supports, the other one will create trouble.

And isn’t it a sad state we live in that such things are fact? Most of the people of my generation (the ones I know at least) don’t care about the verdict.

If you ask me, tell both sides to fuck off and build a school there to teach children that religion is a horrible thing and it sucks.

Of course, that’s me being optimistic. The best we can hope is for the land to be touched for the next 100 years till the memory of it fades and greedy people slowly encroach the land… and then in about another 300 years, if the world still exists, the whole thing will happen again.

I cannot remember the last time we had communal riots. My mind has a low memory for such things… and in school, all you cared about was the holidays.

But one thing remained in my head… a little hillock in my farm. It was pretty groovy… with a cave and all. Due to a long story, Muslims wanted to worship on that hill and my grandfather had given them permission. The hill was half blown away during the riots. The next time I went there… the cave no longer existed. That has been the most prominent sign of the riot in my head. A lot more tamer than some people who probably went through it, I know.

And the Godhra riots. Yes. That is in my memory. How could anyone forget that carnage? And that the man responsible for it is not just out of jail, but is running the same state?

I know some of you think that he is a genius… that he has done a lot for his state. But this seems to be a case of history repeating itself. Does the fact that someone pours money into something, while standing on the dead bodies of the people he/she killed, make it okay to forgive the person?

Hitler, too, believed in the ideas he was propagating. Several other criminals I’m sure have contributed to economic growth… but it does not excuse their criminal activities.

Both Hindus and Muslims were killed in the Godhra riots. Is there a point in pointing fingers at which religion started it? If we have to blame, the blame squarely rests on those politicians who led to the destruction of Babri Masjid. The politicians who stood aside and cheered and instigated people to kill each other. Yes. You know the names I am talking about. The very people who have claimed no regret for the acts they committed.

If this was in the name of God, I’m sure God is weeping at the murders done in his name.

Bottomline – is there a point in postponing the verdict? Is there a point in India trying to pretend to the world that we are a “peace loving country” who have no corruption? The verdict could be postponed further because of the CWG, which is a disaster enough. Maybe I am being cruel but I just want to get it done and over with. Finish destroying what you will so we can rebuild it the right way. Kill those people who started it so we can move on to building a country without religion.